Summary: These 5 monologues are 5 different responses to Jesus’ birth. The scripts are best used in the order given, as they kind of have a succession to them. The characters play off of the previous character's lines a little bit. As the monologues are being delivered, the hearer will be guided through soul-searching questions about their own commitment to Jesus and how they are letting God use them to further His kingdom. Some of the humor would be best suited to be used for Youth. Feel free to tweak these scripts to suit your audience.
Style: Dramatic with light moments. Duration: 15min
Actors: 4M, 1F, 1M/F
Characters:
Joseph
King Herod
Wiseman
Shepherd
Mary
Pastor or Leader
Setting:
It isn’t a problem to have these people in normal clothes, maybe with one prop or piece of clothing to distinguish them as the character. Example: King Herod – could have crown; Mary – holding a baby; Shepherd – a staff. We just had each one go podium and deliver the monologue, as kind of a testimony, sharing their heart type of speech.
Script
Joseph (Response to Christmas: Commitment):
Good evening. I was asked to share with you how the birth of my son affected me. It's kind of a long story, but I guess it started when Mary and I were dating. One night, I was sleeping and I woke up with a fright. You know, those times when you are kind of sleeping, but not totally gone, and your body all of a sudden does this big spaz out. Yeah, that’s what happened to me. I thought nothing of it, happens all the time, but then I heard a voice. And when you start hearing voices talking to you, people start accusing you of being a nutcase. So I didn’t want to hear the voice. I closed my eyes, trying to go back to sleep. Then along with the voice, came some extremely bright lights.
(Getting a little bit excited) Oh, let me tell you something that happened to me at camp when I was a kid. One night I was sleeping and suddenly I had bright lights shining into my eyes. One of my buddies yelled out at the top of his lungs, “WOAH, LOOK OUT FOR THAT TRAIN!” My heart went racing! YIKES! I thought, this was the death of me. They proceeded to take their pillows and pound the living daylights out of me. So, that night when the light shone at me, I was half expecting a barrage of pillows to pound me. But instead, I opened my eyes and saw an angel. I thought, “Oh stink! I would rather have been hit by a bunch of pillows.” Usually angel visits are when something crazy is about to happen.” And that’s when the angel told me. Get this, the angel said, “Mary is going to have a baby.” I said, “Why couldn’t you just have hit me with a bunch of pillows?”
I actually already knew that. On Mary, it wasn’t exactly hard to tell that she was pregnant, if you know what I mean. Like we are talking, either she had just eaten too many enchiladas or she was pregnant. And I was devastated. First of all, I loved Mary. Second, she was carrying someone else’s baby. That is worse than getting hit by a bunch of pillows. And so I wanted to get out of this relationship before I was hurt any more. Now the angel must have seen the terror in my eyes, because he said, “Do not be afraid.” Basically, the angel told me to stay with my commitment to Mary. And that this baby was not the product of Mary sleeping around, but that Mary was a part of God bringing the Messiah into the world. And so how did the birth of Jesus affect me? It made me thoroughly committed to my wife and to the raising of God’s Son. Commitment, so vitally important. I needed to be committed to bring God’s Son into the world. And believe me, it wasn’t easy. My life was in danger, the words of the angel rang in my ears, “DO NOT BE AFRAID”. Hey, I hear that commitment is exactly what Jesus requires of those who follow Him. How committed are you to following my Son? May the words of the angel bring you comfort too, “DO NOT BE AFRAID.” Follow Him with a committed heart, and great things can happen. Just take my life as an example.
King Herod (Response to Christmas: Opposition):
All right, so I was told I would be getting a free supper out of the deal. Is that still the case? Anyway, I was asked to share what the birth of Jesus meant for me. Well, really nothing. Okay, so I was shaking at the knees. You see, one night there were these kings, and they stopped by because they had seen a star that indicated a king was born. They came to the palace, because surely this was the place where a king would be born. Well, let's just say, me and Mrs. Herod were not on speaking terms, or making-out terms for that matter, so there was no way that a baby could have been born in my palace. So no king here. They said something about this being the king of the Jews. So I decided to bring in some of the experts to weigh in. I got the priests and teachers of religion around me and asked where the scriptures said this baby would be born. You see, I’m kind of smart. And good looking, but we won’t go into that right now. Then I got the information about when the star first appeared and realized the baby wouldn’t be two years old yet. So I figured, these guys are giving a lot of information. I must be able to get a little more out of them. So, because I’m so smart, I told them that they should go and find the baby, worship Him and then come back and tell ME exactly where the baby was so I could also go and pay my respects. Smart, eh?
Well, those little smarty pants’ probably saw through my plan, cuz they never came back. You see, this Jesus that they talked about, was going to be a problem for me as king. The prophecies said that the King of the Jews would come and reign over His people. This was a threat to my throne. And so I needed to take that threat out. So I ordered EVERY baby two years or younger was to be killed. You might think that it’s a little ummm… how you say, rude to do that. Well, I needed to protect myself. And Jesus was a hindrance to me living my life the way I wanted to live it. And so I needed to do away with Jesus so that He wouldn’t affect my hopes to be rich, prosperous and powerful. You know, a lot of you are like me too. I actually heard what Joseph said earlier, you are afraid to commit to Jesus because of what it’s going to cost you. Well, I’m with you.
Wisemen (Response to Christmas: Worship):
Good evening, everyone. I am a wise man. Ummm… I saw a star and followed it for a couple of years. Some might not consider that to be wise. I thought it was a good way to spend my time. I mean, the camel I rode on would probably have thought of better ways to spend his time. You know how it is when you’re on the road, you don’t eat quite as well, sometimes your stomach does strange things. Well, my camel, Bessie, had a major gas problem. Gas is a problem of the road. Nowadays you usually have more of a problem not having enough gas for the journey. I would say Bessie had a tad too much. I’m a wise man, but that is one problem I don’t know how to fix for a camel. And so, you might be wondering why were following a star. Well, in the books that us wise men read, there was a certain prophecy that was indicated by a star in west. And it was one of those big prophecies. It was a prophecy that told about a king. A king that would save the Jews from constant oppression. For me, I looked at that prophecy and realized that this had the makings of complete world change. This would change the way our world ran and functioned. Kind of like the wedding of Prince William and Kate. Kind of like that, just maybe not quite as romantic. And so we decided to make the trek to see this glorious event. So naturally we thought the star would lead to the palace in Jerusalem because this was likely where the new king would be born right? I am smart. But apparently the star had other plans. Maybe there was an accident or the baby would be elsewhere, but the star didn’t stop over the palace. We figured we may as well check with the people at the palace to see where this king was born, so we stopped there and asked. After King Herod met with some Jewish folks, he told us that we should keep going on to Bethlehem. He also made sure to tell us that we should come back to him and tell him where the baby was so he could worship him too.
When I went out to tell my camel that we were continuing the journey, he spit in my face. Nasty. It was a long ride to Bethlehem with a stubborn camel, but we made it and asked around. We finally found the home where the baby was staying. And we entered the home. And to my surprise, this was just an average baby. There was no silk diapers or one of those palm waving people keeping the baby cool. It was a baby, like any other baby. It was so shocking and so different than what I had imagined. We had brought some gifts, some fairly expensive stuff, and so we laid it in front of the baby. If I would’ve known it would be a normal baby and not the rich, spoiled, all-about-money baby, I probably would have gotten it a teether or something. But somehow this just seemed right. I had given up something very expensive for this king. I sat in awe of all that was happening. And for the first time, I knew what this baby was truly worth for his people. This baby signified freeing of the Jewish people from slavery. In some weird way the expensive gift made sense. I gave this as a gift and it was worth it. And when I think of worship, that’s just what it is, giving of ourselves, to uphold something that is worthy to receive every part of us. How much are you giving to God when you worship? Or are you so concerned about what it costs you, that you don’t want to give? Let me tell you, I have never felt so close to God as I did that night. It was because I gave Him a special gift that cost me something.
Shepherds (Response to Christmas: Wonder):
Hey, I’m sorry, I might stink a little bit. I stepped in a bunch of sheep droppings just before I left the field. I was really hoping to come here smelling nice. I just had a nice bucket shower before I came here, wanted to look real nice for you all. So I’m really sorry. But, they wanted me to share some things about what happened that one night. Oh, that one night. Do you ever have those times in your life where you get fired up? Back when I was a little shepherd boy I would go to these shepherding camps, man if there was ever a time when I wanted to be a life-long, victorious shepherd, it was at these camps. They would explain ideas on how to raise sheep and it INVIGORATED me. Anyway, this was a night where I stood in awe of the way God works. It was a cold night. I was lounging out on a nice soft little sheep, trying to stay warm. When suddenly there was this man in amongst us and a light was shining super bright. I figured it was Jethro, playing a trick on us with one of those new fancy LED spotlights. So I yelled out, “Hey Jethro, stop messing around with the light, you’re gonna suck the battery dry. I get it, it’s a bright light, but lets conserve energy, HELLOOOO environment!” But Jethro responded, “Ummm… I’m right here idiot, that’s not me.” And he was right. I stood speechless. I noticed my legs shaking. I quickly shoved the little sheep I had been lying on toward the bright light and said, “Please take whatever you want! Just don’t kill me.” I started searching my wallet for some money I could give the strange man who stood looking at us. Then the man started talking and said this, “Don’t be afraid.” Yeah, that’s easy for you to say, I don’t have the ability to blind people with light. But he went on to talk about some good news. And he said something we had all been hoping for for so long, he said that the Messiah was born in Bethlehem. WHAT??!! And then the angel told us that if we went to look for Him, we would find Him in a manger. We were so puzzled. A manger? Isn’t that where animals eat out of? Maybe the angel told us about this baby so that we can go make sure the cows don’t eat it. Oh boy, we better get going fast. Then all of a sudden the sky LIT UP with a whole whack of angels. It was one of the most glorious things I have ever seen in my life. I will never forget it. They sang a song for us. It was beautiful.
When they had gone into heaven, we remembered the news they told us and we decided we needed to go save this little baby. So we rushed into Bethlehem. It took us a while to find the baby, but when we found Him there wasn’t a mad dash to swipe the baby out of the feeding trough, but it seemed like this was just how it was meant to be. I can’t explain it. There was something in the air. And I’m not talking the smell of sheep droppings I had brought with me. No, there was something “other-worldly” about this event. None of us could explain the feeling we had. None of us could explain the feeling of peace we had. Why would God come as a baby? Isn’t that backwards? But isn’t that exactly the way God works? Why would we have been informed or a kings birth? Isn’t that backwards? But one thing I get from that experience is that God works in ways that we cannot understand. And that night fills me with wonder at the plans God has and had for his people. Does this event fill you with wonder, as much as it does me? Probably not. But, this Christmas I encourage you to let your heart go and start to wonder at the gift of a baby who later on, saved us all from slavery. It is a wonderful story of a wondrous God.
Mary (Response to Christmas: YES):
All right, I have some exciting things to tell you. An angel came and visited me one night. I remember it like it was yesterday. He told me that I was going to have a baby. The first thought was one of, “who do you think you are.” But then he started to let me in on the plan, and then I started to remember the prophecies, and suddenly, I became super excited. He described it just like the prophets had. Now, Joseph talked about his commitment, and I am so thankful to God for how Joseph handled everything. But one thing Joseph didn’t experience, was a baby inside of him. I knew what this would mean, if I accepted this task. It would mean that for at least the next 3 months I would be nauseous to the point of vomiting. I also knew that I would feel for the next long while that my body wasn’t mine anymore, but rather belonged to a little shnerpz of a kid. You know, this may not sound that bad to you, but I was 14 at the time. You 14-year-old girls, think of these things and how much you want to just keep on living your teenage lives. This baby was going to change my life forever. Not to mention the added pressure from the people around me, who wouldn’t believe me that I had remained pure. My life was about to be put in the hands of someone else, namely God. Could I trust my life in His hands? And it was that question that sealed the deal for me. Think about that question, “Can I trust my life in the hands of God?” And I knew that I totally could. So I gave God my body, to use for His purpose. And just look what God did through that gift! Did you know God wants to use you for His purposes too? Are you willing to give up yourself to commit to a life serving God? I hope my “Yes” is an encouragement for all of you of how God can use us in His story. “I am the Lord’s servant, May it be to me as you have said.”
Pastor or Leader:
And so we’ve heard 5 things tonight, and here are the questions we want to leave all of you with this Christmas:
1. As Joseph asked, how committed are you to Jesus?
2. Are you scared of what committing to Jesus will cost you?
3. As the wise men reminded us, what are you willing to give up in order to give Jesus your worship?
4. And finally, have you allowed yourself to get carried away with wonder about how God works?
5. How can God use you in His story of redemption?
We are going to allow you a little bit of time this evening to think about these 5 questions in a time of response.
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Copyright Blaine Dueck, all rights reserved. Feel free to use these monologues, free of charge, for whatever size group you have. It would be nice, if you could please let me know what you think of the script and how it went over if you do perform it. This will aid me in becoming a better script writer. E-mail me at